


Family In Name And Ink

by pokemonfan224



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Sparrow Academy (Umbrella Academy), Family Dynamics, Mentioned Ben Hargreeves, Needles, Not Beta Read, Past Child Abuse, Post-Season/Series 02, Sibling Bonding, Tattoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 08:56:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26969362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pokemonfan224/pseuds/pokemonfan224
Summary: It was Klaus’ idea.Of course it was, it’s always his idea when it comes to stuff like this.Stuff like this being Vanya getting a tattoo.
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Luther Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Vanya Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves & The Hargreeves
Kudos: 104





	Family In Name And Ink

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, I couldn't get this idea out of my head so enjoy this word vomit

It was Klaus’ idea. 

Of course it was, it’s always his idea when it comes to stuff like this. 

Stuff like this being Vanya getting a tattoo. 

Klaus is trying this thing where he’s taking past traumas and reclaiming them as his own. It seems to be working with most things, others he prefers to never bring up but the umbrella tattoo is one of the things he’s reclaimed. 

It was a few weeks after they’d returned from Dallas and they were working on becoming a family once again. Some of them would argue that they were never not a family but then again, they didn’t really know how to be a family. There were definitely times when they were growing up but as they got older, those moments became less and less until none of them were in any contact. 

Dinners were a thing. They ate dinner at the dining room table - the dining room table had been reclaimed because hey, it was a nice table - but fuck the seating arrangements. None of them sat in their original spots but none of them sat in Ben’s spot either. Klaus kept turning his head to try and look for him and his face would always falter when he realised that Ben was really gone this time. 

“You know” Klaus takes a sip of the water in front of him “Vanya’s the only one of us who hasn’t got a tattoo”

“Yes” Vanya nodded “I’m aware”

“Why are you even bringing this up?” Diego asked with a raised eyebrow “She got to miss out on a traumatic experience whoop de doo”

“No” Klaus waves his hand in dismissal “We should reclaim them, yeah? Because the old man is dead and we’re starting over in a new timeline, or old timeline, all these timelines are confusing”

“Does Luther still have his?” Five asked from his new spot at the head of the table where Vanya used to sit. 

“It’s still there, kinda” Luther pulled at his sleeve a little to take a look at his wrist “I think someone redid after the accident” 

“Even more traumatic” Diego muttered 

“Anyway!” Klaus interrupted loudly. “We should reclaim them as a family because that’s what we are!”

“So what? The tattoos Dad forced us to get at 12 years old aren’t going to represent him anymore?” Allison questioned “They’ll just be for us?”

“Yeah” Klaus exclaims “Exactly! My therapist said it was a good idea when i brought it up”

“I remember drawing the tattoo on myself a lot when I was younger” Vanya admits “Dad would always scrub them off when he saw them”

“Dickhead” Five mumbles, taking a bite of his dinner. 

“It’s not a bad idea, to be honest” Allison admits “Get rid of a bit of trauma and replacing it as something good”

“Okay” Diego says “Does Vanya even want this shitty tattoo though? It’s been years”

“I mean” Vanya shrugs and drops her head, letting her hair fall in front of her face “It could be nice”

“Then it’s settled” Klaus grins “Vanya’s getting ink!”

They all decided to go, a family tattoo turns into a family outing. They went to a tattoo shop a few towns over because they were still a little nervous about being out and about in public, not sure what’s going to happen at any given time. Nothing has happened so far but Five is a bit on edge so they follow his orders to go further than necessary. 

The tattoo shop is nice, it has painted murals on the walls and framed designs and a comfy waiting area at the front of the shop. Music is playing over the speakers and the hum of needles filters through. 

Vanya’s nervous but she’s excited. Even though she knows she’s part of the family, this feels different, seems more set in stone which doesn’t even make sense to her. Diego stands next to her, arms crossed and chest puffed out. She knows it’s a defence mechanism of his, he doesn’t like needles and tattoos make him panicky. Not that he’ll admit it but everyone knows. 

Klaus and Vanya are at the counter talking to the receptionist while everyone else settles down in the waiting area. Five flicks through the book he’s brought along, Allison and Luther are chatting quietly on one of the couches and Diego is staring at a framed flash sheet of knives. 

They didn’t have an appointment but walk-ins were welcome and the design was so simple that they would be able to do it as soon as an artist was free. Klaus was showing them his own tattoo on his wrist, the one that had faded over the years and wasn’t taken care of properly in the first place, so they knew what Vanya wanted to get. 

“It’s a family tattoo” Klaus was saying “We’re a big and happy family”

Allison was the one who held her hand as she got it done. Everyone else was still in the waiting area but they were hovering nervously. Allison herself couldn’t bring herself to watch the actual tattooing, instead looking everywhere but and was holding onto Vanya’s hand tightly. 

Vanya was starting to realise how fucked up her siblings were from the tattoo. None of them talked about it but seeing her siblings acting this way was eye opening. Even Five had abandoned his book and was instead leaning against the counter next to Luther, his hand absentmindedly rubbing his own tattoo. 

Vanya breathed out slowly as the needle went over her skin, it wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be, it kind of felt like someone scratching at a sunburn. It didn’t take long either, only about an hour and a half and then the artist was wiping it down and telling her how to take care of it. Something her siblings didn’t do properly on their own, not out of neglect on their parts but because they didn’t know how as they were young and traumatised. 

Vanya looks up at her family and grins as she slowly gets up from the chair and walks back over to the counter. Klaus had pawned off some more of their fathers things in order to pay for the tattoo so she handed over the needed amount, thanked the artist and left with her family. 

They sat in a cafe a few doors down because Klaus insisted she needed something with sugar to get her blood sugar up. She wasn’t sure if she needed it but she trusted Klaus’ judgement considering he had the most tattoos out of all of them. None of them were done in a shop if she had to guess, except maybe the ones he got over in Vietnam with his troop. 

She couldn’t stop staring at the tattoo, the tattoo she so desperately wanted when she was 12 and watched her siblings one by one get them. She’d forgotten how they’d all cried or held back tears during and after getting them, focusing on the fact that she would never be part of the family but now here she was, sipping a milkshake after getting that umbrella tattoo with her family. 

Her family where they all had matching family tattoos.


End file.
